A DIY Oil Change That's Worth the Effort
 

I've been looking into doing my own oil changes lately, but I'm finding that it's not much cheaper than having it done at the dealership's $70 price. After buying the oil and filter it comes out to be around $10 less, give or take a few bucks.

Is this true for everyone else? Or am I shopping at the wrong places?

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What prices are you using to come up with ~$60 in DIY costs? The OEM filter, O-ring, and crush washer should be about $12-15, depending on where you buy them, and I get the MINI-branded oil from the dealer for $6.85 a quart. So for five quarts plus a filter, that's a little less than $50. Plus, I don't have to take the car to the dealer and wait.

In your case, though, DIY isn't a lot cheaper than having the dealer do it. Many of the dealers charge a good deal more than $70 for an oil change.

When I did my first oil change, I got the oil from Mini dealership for $6.50 per quart, I think. Then Costco had the coupon for Mobil 1, 5W-30 Advanced Full Synthetic oil. So I got a bunch of those. :razz:

For oil filters and ring, I got it from Atlantic British when they had a sale. I don't recall how much they were, but I had to buy six.

Then of course I had to buy the oil filter removal tool, but that's a one time purchase.

Personally, it is not about saving money for oil change. It is about knowing that I did it right and clean. Even for my other cars and parents, I change it for them. Even though money-wise, I save a little for doing it myself.

Just like everything DIY...I can sleep better at night.

I agree with Darthhen, the couple of free oil changes I got from Mini they overfilled it and smeared oil all over the side of the engine when changing the oil filter. I'd rather do it myself and know it was done right. It's not much harder than an oil change on any other vehicle.

MINI charges around C$150 for an oil change around here. Much cheaper to do DYI.

+1

anybody know where I can buy the oil filter removal tool ?

Whole bunch of vendors sell them. I haven't bought mine yet but they are like $10-20.
http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...cket_27mm.html
http://www.waymotorworks.com/27mm-oil-socket.html
Just make sure you get the right size :razz:. 27mm is for R56 and outmotoring does ship to Canada.

I just got a 27mm (1 1/16" actually), 6-point socket from the local hardware store -- $6.00. Works fine.

Cool will be checking locally first.

Yeah, it's just a 27mm socket, nothing special about it, I got mine at Sears. Get a long extension too, I think about 16" will work.

I am using Valvoline Synpower in a 5 quart container for just under $30 from Autozone, plus the cost of filter (purchased in bulk 4 at a time) so my costs ends up being about $40-45 per change every 5K miles. The cost saving is nice, but I do it myself mostly because it is just easier to do it at home on a Saturday afternoon than taking it to the dealer. The dealer is across town, so in the time it would take to drive there and back, I can change my oil and rotate my tires. Besides it's still one of the few jobs I can still do on the care without a lot of specialized equipment.

Bought my tools for about $20.00. Got the Costco oil deal for 35.00. Only takes about 20 minutes, you don't even have to jack up the car due to the drain being very close to the front of the car. Very easy and quick. Change mine every 5000 miles.